Green Bay Packers will have 2nd shot at running back Damon Bankston

If you’re an avid reader of Acme Packing Company, you know that I feel like the Green Bay Packers show their cards a bit when it comes to pre-draft visitors. Since 2022, when the Packers appeared to have changed their visit strategy from almost being used exclusively on undrafted free agent rookie recruiting to more of a mix of picks and free agent prospects, Green Bay has signed, traded for, drafted or claimed on waivers 36 players who were pre-draft visitors with the team.

Often, when these players become available (some of them never become available, because they were high draft picks who were picked before the Packers were on the clock), Green Bay ends up targeting them in some way or another. While players like Darian Kinnard, John FitzPatrick and Josh Whyle weren’t originally picked by the Packers, they did find their way to Green Bay later in their careers.

So, when a pre-draft visitor becomes available, my radar always goes up, especially if it’s the first time the Packers have had a shot at bringing them to Green Bay since draft weekend. That’s the case right now with New York Giants running back Damon Bankston, who was waived by the team on Saturday.

Bankston took a pre-draft visit with the Packers this spring, but ended up signing with the Giants for $115,000 guaranteed, far more than Green Bay spent on their UDFA running back signing, Jaden Nixon — who was added to the offseason roster for $15,000 guaranteed.

The New Mexico product was an interesting sleeper prospect in the class of 2026, as he posted 635 rushing yards (5.6 yards per carry), five touchdowns on the ground and caught 31 balls for 397 yards and three touchdowns (12.8 yards per reception, a very high number for backs) through the air in his one year of FBS football. The numbers don’t exactly look incredible from a volume perspective, but he was very efficient in the 9-4 Lobos’ running back by committee (and he led the team in yards from scrimmage).

Before his stint at New Mexico, Bankston was an All-Conference player and team captain at Weber State, an FCS program. He also saw time as a returner at the college level.

If the Packers’ preseason film is any indication (and I’m not sure I’m sold on the idea), Green Bay’s offense is going to look a lot more like the early Matt LaFleur years in 2026, with more outside zone runs and bootlegs off of outside zone action. To run those plays, you need some home run hitters in the backfield, like Aaron Jones was for LaFleur when he got the offense going in Green Bay. While he’s not the biggest back at 5’10” and 196 pounds, Bankston does have 4.43-second 40-yard dash speed and also put up an elite 6.89-second three-cone during his pre-draft process.

For whatever reason, things didn’t work for Bankston in New York, as the Giants continued to add players at the position this offseason, including Najee Harris, who has been linked to the Harbaugh family since then-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was hosting satellite recruiting camps at his high school campus.

If the Packers didn’t feel like committing to Bankston’s requested guarantees back in April, here’s some good news: There’s no dibs on practice squad players. We’ve seen Green Bay poach a couple of these guys, not via waivers, but by being a players’ preferred practice squad location, every year. Generally, when those players have been pre-draft visitors, like tight end Josh Whyle was last year after he was waived by the Tennessee Titans, they tend to get onto the regular season field quicker than a typical practice squadder.

Just keep an eye out for Bankston, and don’t be surprised if he’s an addition on Monday — or a future date, if the Packers feel like their running back room is fine going into Week 1. It’s not like Bankston exactly lit up the preseason, as he recorded 21 rushing attempts for 73 yards (3.5 YPC) and had two receptions for two yards, but Green Bay was interested in him at one point, and he’s a pretty good system fit for what the Packers’ offense has been putting up on film. Beggars can’t be choosers, either. Those 73 yards on the ground would have led all of the Packers’ backs this preseason.